Lever switch



Sein. 16, 1924. wwwa E. s. PRESTON LEVER SWITCH Filed June 2l, 1922 /0, JZUQ/zzgof/ Ec/h/ara/ f @www Patented Sept.; 16, 1924.

umao STATES EDWARD S. `PRESTON, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNO'R T0 EDMUNDS & JONES COR- PORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

LEVER SWITCH.

Application filed June 21,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. PRESTON, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook "and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Lever Switch; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descrip-tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to electrical appliances and'in most of its general aspects relates to an electric switch construction designed for affording an easily constructed, inexpensive, compact and handsome switch. Furthermore, my invention includes as one feature a cheaply manufactured and ad vantageously formed conducting member adapted to afford an unmarred thread for engaging a binding screw.

More patricularly, my invention relates to an electric switch in which the switching memberlcontinuously engages one circuit terminal and is adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the other cir- Acuit terminal. For this purpose, my invention aims to provide an inexpensive and advantageously arranged mounting for both circuit terminal members and one in which one of the latter' has a portion guiding the cont-acting part of the switching member and desirably formed for cooperating with suitable spring means in yieldingly latching the switching member eitherin its on or its off position. It also aims to provide a construction for this purpose in which the constituent parts can readily be made and assembled by simplel punch-pressitand screwmachine oper-ations, and in which the circuit-closing contact can be made directly to a conducting member into which one of the wire binding screws is threaded.

. In a further aspect, my invention aims to provide a switch of a rocking lever type, aims to provide a yielding extensible lever member and one in which the contact tip is suitably insulated from the handle end of the the lever member can easily be assembled without employing auxiliary fastening ele'- ments. V

Furthermore, my invention aims to proing.

lever and in which the various portions of 1922. Serial No.`569,962.

vide a switch of the rocking lever type in which the pivotal support for the lever' is afforded by a suitable formation in one wall of the casing without requiring any shaft or auxiliary supporting member, and in which the lever is retained in its operative position by the mere assembling of the cas- It also aims to provide a switch of the rocking lever type in which the mount` ing of the lever would permit a movement of the latter in various planes, and aims to provide suit-able guide means for limiting the movement of the lever to a single plane. Furthermore, my invention desirably aims to provide such guide means as an integral part of one circuit terminal member, de-

4sirably aims to form this part so that its shape will cooperate with the movement of the lever past the center of travel thereof in holding'the contacting portion of the lever in its circuit-closing position. Still further and also more detailed objects will appear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. l is a front elevation of a switch embodying myinvention in a type particularly suited for use on the dashboard of automobiles.

F'ig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the same. 'Fg 4 is an enlarged central and longitudinal section through the switch of F 1g.

1, showing the switchinglever in its circuitclosing position. Q

Fig. 5 isa corresponding central section taken transversely of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a central andy longitudinal section through the switching lever, drawn on the same scale as Figs. 4 and 5.-

Fig. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the circuit terminal portions, showing the insulation-indenting fingers formed from the same.

Fig. 8 is a perspective vview of the' lower port-ion of the insulating base. i

Fig. 9 is asimilar perspective View of the upper portion of the said base'.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the contact-plate which forms a part of one ofthe circuit terminals and which has a grooved portion arranged for guiding the contact tip of the switching lever.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view showing another form of contact plate and guide means.A

Vhile the various features of my invention may be employed with substantially equal advantage in a variety of forms of switches' and to some extent also in other electric fittings, my invention is particularly adapted for embodiment in a single-pole flush switch. I am therefore illustrating and describing the same in such an embodiment, although I do not wish to be limited to this particular use of the saine.

In the drawings, the illustrated embodiment has a switch casing comprising a cylindrical wall 1 equipped with integral fianges 2 which are disposed behind a front plate 3, this front plate being desirablyinterlocked with the said flanges by two ferrule-like formations 4 extending through corresponding perforations in the said flanges 2 and clinched over the back of the latter after themanner shown in Fig. 4. Secured to the rear end of the cylindrical side wall 1 is an insulating base which desirably is held in position by having its larger diametered rear portion 5 engaging the rear end of the cylinder 1 and by having fingers 6 formed from the rear end of the cylinder land bent into recesses 7 in the rear base portion 5 so as to engage the rear face of the forward base portion 6.

These two base portions, which cooperate in affording an easily manufactured equivalent for a single-piece insulating base, are secured to each other by two posts 8 and 9 into which the wire-binding screws 10 are threaded, and one of the said screw receiving elements (namely the post 9) also serves for clamping to the base another circuit terminal part in the form of a contact plate 11 which has a part 12 extending towards the companionpost 8, this part 12 being grooved for uiding the plunger tip or circuit-closing e ement 13 of the movable member of the switch. To facilitate the assemb ling of the partsfor this purpose, I desirably form the rear base portion 5 of a disk of fiber or similar insulating material having a pair of perforations 14 each adapted to slidably receive the shank of one of the posts 15, and also having a pair of lateral notches 7 for housing the said clinching fingers 6 as formed from the side wall of the casing. Then I provide correspond- 1 g passageways for the said posts in the inner base members and'desirably connect these passage-ways to each other by an elongated perforation portion after the manner shown in Fig. 9, sothat theI single composite perforation serves both for permitting the extending of the posts through th1s forward base member and for aording an elongated central recess disposed between the said posts. This central recess portion serves for housing the contact portion 12 of the contact plate 11, which housed portion 12 is so formed as to beI depressed into the said central recess when the parts are assembled as shown in Fig. 4.

For the movable switching member, I desirably employ a rocking lever having onev end thereof resiliently mounted so as to make the lever yieldingly extensible, and I desirably insulate this yieldingly mounted portion from the main part of the lever. I also desirably provide the lever with a shoulder formation 24 engaging the rear face of a perforated boss 15 formed from the front plate 3 of the switch, through which boss the lever extends, so as to afford the needed pivotal mounting for the lever without requiring any shaft or any other auxrounded after the manner shown in the drawings. Interposed between this plunger 13 and the guide cup 20 is a compression sprinor 22, the tip or plunger part 13 being pre erably hollowed out to receive a portlon of this spring so as to permit a relatively long spring to be used.

Vhen the parts are assembled, the plunger 13 bears against the groove plate portion 12 of the circuit terminal element 11 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the parts being so proportioned that the spring will be compressed during the assembling of the parts so that it will continuously tendto force the plunger 13 outwardly of its slida-ble mounting, or in other words will tend to extend the length of the lever. Thus assembled, and with the grooved plate portion 12 extending towards the terminal post 8 and the center of travel of the plunger 13 opposite the middle length of the plate 12 or along the axis of the boss 15, it will be evident from Fig. 4 that the lever will be effectively longer in its on and off7 positions (as shown respectivel in full lines and in dotted lines in Fig. 4 than it would be at the center of its travel. Consequently, the spring 22 acts as a throwover element and serves to hold the lever yieldingly either in its circuit-opening or circuit-closing position, in the latter 'of which the plunger or lever tip portion 13 directly engages the head of the terminal post 8. To make this contact all the more firm when the lever is in its circuit-closing position, I desirably increase'the depth of the grooved portion 12 of the contact plate adjacent to the free end of the latter, after the manner of Fig. 4, and also desirably pr vide this grooved plate portion with a pair of flanges 23 engaging the forward face of the base member 6 at-opposite sides of the recess in the latter so as to prevent this plate from being flexed by the thrust of the spring-pressed plunger. Then the edge of the plate 1] whichoverhangs one end of the groove affords a. stop for the lever during the off movement of the latter,as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

-lfVith the parts thus arranged, it will be obvious from the drawings that while the lever has its shoulder portion 24 socketed in the boss 15 with freedom for movement' in any number of different planes, the grooved plate portion 12 affords a guide for limiting the movement of the leverato a single plane, namelythe plane of the centerl line of Fig. 1. The simple contact plate therefore serves both as a circuit terminal part continuously engaging the tip of ,the lever and as means for determining the plane of movement of the lever without requiring a shaft or the like. f

To prevent the posts 8 and 9 from rotating when the wire-binding screws are tightened or loosened, and to insure an unmarred thread in these osts, L desirably construct each post initially Yof a plain cylinder. having an enlarged fiange or head at one end. Each such post is inserted first through one end of the perforation in the forward base part 6 and then through the corresponding perforation 14 in the rear base part, and thereafter is clinched in position by forming a plurality of fingers 25 from the same v afterthe manner shown in Fig. 7. By employing outwardly turned fingers for this clinching instead of flaring out the entire rear end of the hollow post, I retain the cylindrical bore of the post for its entire length with the except-ion of the relatively small recesses out of which the lingers 25 are formed. Consequently, the later tapping of the threads in the posts, which isf done after the posts together with the contact plate 11 have been secured to the two insulating base portions, produces threads adapted to afford a ood grip for the corresponding wire-bindlng screws. Moreover, by making the elongated central portion of the perforation in the base part 6 corresponding to that between the flanges 23 on the contact plate, I cause the grooved part of this plate to engage the mouth of the recess afforded in the switch 'base by the said perforation, thereby preventing this plate from shifting out of the position in which it limits the plunger of the lever to a path to and from the terminal post 8.

However, while I have illustrated and described my invention in a particular embodiof a width ment, I do not wish to be limited to the details of construction and arrangement 4thus disclosed, it being obvious that the same might be modified in many ways without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims. l\either do I wish to be limited to the use of all of the various novel features in combination with one another, since many of the same might obviously be employed separately or in other connections, as for example by using my two-piece insulating base construction or my post construction "on other electric appliances. For example, instead of forming the guide groove integral with the contact late, I may yemploy a contact plate 26, having a narrower portion continuously engaged by the plunger of the lever and may employ the sides of the recess in the insulating base as the means for laterally guiding this plunger after the manner shown in Fig. 11.

I claim as my invention 1. A switch lever having a bore extending into the same from one end ofthe level', a cup of insulating material disposed in the said bore and having its mouth directed toward the sai-d end, a cylinder within the c up, a shouldered plunger movable in the cylinder and having a tip projecting beyond all the aforesaid parts, the cylinderv having its outer end contracted `to engage with the plunged shoulder, and av compression spring within the cylinder disposed for urging the plunger to increase the said projecting of its tip.

2. In a switch, a casing, a sectional insulating base in the casing having the rear section formed with peripheral notches, integral fingers on the casing engaged in the notches, posts extended through the sections to hold the latter together, the front section being engaged with the fingers and having a groove, a contact plate carried by one of the posts and having a part arranged in said groove, ing a tip in the groove and engageable with said contact plate. l

3. In a switch, a casing having an insulating base formed with a groove, a contact plate having a part of concavo-convex cross- I section, the convex face extending into the groove to hold the plate against movement laterally of the groove, and a universally mounted switching member having a spring tensioned tip projecting in the groove and and a switching member /havengagedwith the concave face of the contact plate, so as to have its movement restricted to the direction in which the groove extends. v

4. In a switch, a casing having an insulatm0' inzf member having a tip carried by the casin spaced circuit terminalscarried by the base, and guiding means on /the base arrgnged in'the space-between the terminals,

base, auniversally mounted switchand including a contact member spaced from one of the terminals and connected to the other, to guide the tip of the switching member in a path between said terminals, said tip in one position extending across said .space between the contact member and the the insulating member, binding posts carried by the insulating member and arranged 'in alinement with said groove ofthe insulating member, and a switching member having Va tip movably engaged in the groove of the contact member and engageable with each of the binding posts so as to have its movement limited thereby.

6. In a switch, a casing, a grooved insulating member in the casing, a Contact member in the groove, binding posts carried by the insulating member and disposed adjacent to the groove ends, and a universally mounted switching member carried by the casing and hav-ing a tip engaged in the groove and with the Vvcontact member so as to have its movement restricted to the direction in which the groove extends.

7 In a switch, an insulating base includ-f ing two superposed parts one of which has a pair of spaced perforations and the other of which has a slot portions of which latter register with the respective pair of perf'orations, the face ofthe first named part' h in the space between .the two perforations providing a recess in the base in conjunction with the slot, circuit terminals extending through the perforations and the said registering slot portions and connecting the parts, a grooved contact plate in the recess, and a switching member having a` portion operable in the recess and engaged in the groove of the contact plate.

8. Ina switch, a casing having an insulating base, a universally mounted Vswitching member having a tip carried by the casing, spaced circuit terminals carried by the base, the base having a groove in the space between the terminals, and a contact member having a part extending into the groove and `having one end connected toJ one terminal and the other end spaced from the other terminal, said tip being engageable with the contact member and in one position extending across said space between the contact member and said other terminal so as to engage the latter.

9. In a'switch, a casing, a grooved insulating base therein,va contact plate arranged in the groove and having a groove with an abutmentI at one end of the groove, contact terminals carried b v the base, and a universally mounted switching member carried by the casing and having a part thereof engaged in the grooveof the con-tact plate and with said abutment thereof.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, June 13. 1922.

EDVARD S. PRESTON. 

